What time do we eat?

Pathongko

The thoughts of the Thais about what they eten and at what time of day seem to change quite often.

It was once generally accepted that people ate only a light meal in the evening. After all, people went to sleep afterwards to give the body a rest, but with a full stomach it is forced to continue “working”. Breakfast was also considered a modest meal, while lunch was the most important. Such an eating schedule - so it was thought - keeps you healthy and the weight is maintained.

Those ideas have since changed somewhat. Dinner is important now, because it allows the body to store energy for the next day. Breakfast is also important, because dinner, say lunch, needs to be supplemented, but it must consist of light food with the necessary nutrients.

But not only the time of a meal has changed, but also the meals themselves. In the past, for example, there were certain Thai dishes that you had for breakfast. Nowadays there are no “rules” for that anymore. Thais eat every possible dish at every possible time of the day.

However, one thing has not changed and that is that a Thai always starts with coffee, preferably with a doughnut-like “pathongko” and possibly a soft-boiled egg.

Khao man kai

If that coffee was bought from a street stall, one could have a “khanom khlok” with it, a snack made of spongy batter filled with coconut, rice flour and sugar and a pinch of salt. The batter was placed in a mold with small round or semi-circular holes and baked over a fire until the outside was crispy and the inside was soft. It could also be a "khanom khao nio", cooked glutinous rice mixed with coconut, cream, salt and sugar and topped with, for example, "sangkaya" (coconut cream) or pureed dried fish.

In addition to coffee, with or without a snack, “jok” was eaten, a thick rice porridge with seasoned minced meat, egg and grated ginger. Another choice was: “tom luead mu”, a soup of congealed blood and pork entrails or “khao man kai”, pieces of chicken on rice cooked in chicken broth.

In southern Thailand breakfast is still a very important meal. It can consist of “khanom jee nam ya pak tai”, noodles made from fermented rice topped with a spicy coconut sauce, pureed fish and spices such as turmeric (koenjit for us Dutch). Of course there is coffee.

Khanom jeen took ya

The most popular breakfast in the North is “khanom jeen nam glio”, thin stringy pasta in a clear broth made from pork bones.

Nowadays, the breakfast pattern in Bangkok has changed quite a bit and there are reasons for that. One of those reasons is that the city has grown enormously, people often have a long way to work and do not allow themselves the time for a quiet Thai breakfast.

They drink coffee at work and buy some food nearby, often ready-made sandwiches. Fruit juice in the early morning is also a popular product, because it is healthy. There is always a stall near their workplace, where people can choose from different fruit juices, which are squeezed on site, so that they can take them to work in a plastic bag.

It is no different with schoolchildren. In the past, the children at home were given rice with a fried egg or pieces of pork for breakfast, or perhaps “khao tom”, rice soup. However, preparing this takes too much time (parents may also work) and so the children eat corn flakes or other cereal products in the morning. If there is no time for this at home either, they take a carton of “Mama” and milk, so that the children can eat it in the car on the way to school.

Khao tom moo

Lunch for most (working) people is usually a quick dish of the day, because air time is limited. It can be a plate of “kui tio rad na”, noodles with cubes of beef or pork in a sauce or “jok” or “khao man kai”, fried rice with chicken. Speed ​​and simplicity are also often chosen for the evening meal. Often people eat the same dishes as those for lunch.

People don't worry too much about the correct nutritional value and the number of calories of today's dishes and sometimes I sometimes think that the old eating habits were not so bad for health.

Adapted from an article by Suthon Sukphisit in the Bangkok Post